The Effects of Self Checkout Lines

Similarly, the growth in vending machines has found more people sidestepping the checkout line in favour of the kiosk.

The Home Depot (Ticker: HD) is the world’s largest home-improvement retailer along with being an American Fortune 50 company. The company operates 2,259 retail building supply/home improvement “warehouse” type stores all across the United States, Canada and Mexico. The Home Depot has over 340,000 team members and is based in Atlanta, Georgia. The average store size is just over 100,000 square feet along with an additional 24,000 square feet set aside for seasonal gardening.

The literature below is a research about self-checkout machine in Tesco supermarkets, and it aims at answering; the reasons that Tesco has changed, importance of self checkout systems in Tesco and challenges faced by the self checkout systems. TESCO is a chain of supermarkets stores originally from the U.K; they have expanded rapidly over the past few years. These stores are of general merchandise that carries everything from clothing, deckchairs, groceries, petrol stations, wines, consumer electronics, DVD and CDS. TESCO has stores in North America, Asia and Europe that operate under the TESCO brand. It operates hypermarkets, supermarkets and convenient stores. TESCO services allow their customers to do their shopping from the comfort of their chairs; because delivery is done to their homes, and it also offers internet shopping services.

In 1979, they opened three Home Depot outlets in the Atlanta area, adding fourth outlet in 1980. The next year Home Depot when public, opened four stores in South Florida, and posted sales of $50 million. After opening two more stores and making sales of $100 million in 1982, the company was named Retailer of the Year in the home building supply industry. The chain entered Louisiana and Arizona next.

“Researchers at IHL Consulting Group point out that there were over 34,000 self-checkout lanes in operation at the end of 2003”. As of 2013 there were 200,000 self-checkouts in operation

By implementing a curbside pick-up and delivery program, Publix will be able to create an advantage over its competitors by offering its customers affordable merchandise in a convenient and efficient way. Publix will benefit by attracting new customers and retaining existing customers who for physical, time sensitive, or other reasons cannot make it into the store to do their grocery shopping. Although Publix could potentially miss out on revenue made by customers making impulse purchases based on eye grabbing displays in the aisles or at the register , they will surely make extra based on the ease of clicking and selecting items. By clicking items to add them to their “shopping cart” customers may lose themselves in the ease of amassing groceries and end up spending more than they would have had they been inside the store.

Long-term, the cart also can be part of an expedited check out system that decreases congestion during the check out process (Media Cart, 2010). Consumers scan items as they put them into their carts and directly into bags. At the end of their shopping experience, they move the cart onto the scale to check for accuracy and for additional items, before they pay and leave; this process could save money by reducing customer service personnel.

Many businesses are implementing technology to combat wage increases and remain competitive. Many larger retailers, such as Walmart and Kroger, have effectively maintained self-checkouts for customers for years. The self-checkout area may have four to six registers, manned by one associate. Larger gas stations are implementing new technologies, as well. Quick Trip(QT) has installed a system that allows the user to order food and drink by touch screen, print a ticket and pay at the regular counter, eliminating the need for extra cashiers and registers. They serve a variety of items such as specialty coffees, smoothies, pretzels, pizza, sandwiches, ice cream and more with their user-friendly system. In addition, pay at the pump has provided relief at long lines of gas stations for years. Restaurants such as Wendy’s, McDonalds, and Panera bread are currently investing in kiosk to serve the future needs of their customers. Wendy’s will have 6,000 locations equipped with kiosk by the end of 2016. "With the pressure on wages and minimum wage increasing in some places, (restaurants) are motivated," said Bob Welcher, president of Restaurant Consultants Inc. "From an operational standpoint, I can see the advantages." Welcher also adds that “The kiosks are more precise. They always are courteous. They always show up to work on time." (Malone, JD. "Wendy's embraces self-order kiosks." Columbus Dispatch, The (OH) 17 May 2016: Newspaper Source. Web. 9 Dec. 2016.)

They currently operate approximately 2,248 stores in the U.S., including the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and the territories of the U.S. Virgin Islands and Guam. There are stores in ten Canadian provinces, 85 stores in Mexico, and eight stores in four Chinese cities. The Home Depot has 48 specialty stores-including, 34 Expo Design Centers, five Northern California Yardbirds stores, two stand-alone Design Centers, and seven-unit HD Bath remodeling business (The Home Depot, 2011).

For instance, over a period of time the inter-arrival rates had a consistent trend overall but the service times for each customer did not follow the same consistency. The data collected showed transactions involving returns occupied more time, usually in the range of 1.5 to 2 minutes and sometimes more. Transactions that were less than 1.5 to 2 minutes were purchases-only. The environment of the checkout area was taken into consideration. The setup of products in the designated waiting area is a positive way to distract customers from actual waiting time. This arrangement also maximizes store profits as patrons are tempted to make impulse purchases. This was the immediate inherent explanation as to why only one check-out/returns line is used. Although there is a designated waiting area, if service times are slower than the arrival rate, the queue extends past the designated waiting line and blocks merchandise intended to be viewed by customers not in the queue. Blocking off merchandise and the visual image of a line extending past the designated area negatively impact the experience of a customer and the decision to wait in line. The loss of a customer is associated with a cost to Winners. Therefore, for every customer that leaves the system before they have been serviced represents a cost to store management in addition to operating and waiting costs. For this report, only the

With the advancements in home entertainment systems, consumers are investing thousands of dollars into their own home viewing systems. They have several options to stream video content into the comfort of their own homes. Home entertainment systems have also made a large impact on the theater industry. In 2005, this technological advancement was the most sought after electronic system for new homes. It seems that consumers have finally said no to the rising price of movie tickets and concession stand snacks and beverages.

We aimed to win market share by appealing to cost-conscious or price-sensitive customers, which we felt that the majority of consumers consisted of. This would be achieved by having the lowest prices in the target market segment, or at least the lowest price to value ratio (price compared to what customers receive). To succeed at offering the lowest price while still achieving profitability and a high return on investment, it was evident that we had to be able to operate at a lower cost than our rivals. We aimed to achieve this goal though a combination of two methods, the first being achieving a high asset turnover. In the manufacturing of our cameras, we wanted to achieve the production of high volumes of output. In theory this approach meant fixed costs would be spread over a larger number of units of the product or service, resulting in a lower unit cost. We hoped to take advantage of economies of scale and experience curve effects[3]. We hoped and realised that higher levels of output both required and resulted in a higher market share, and created an entry barrier to potential competitors, who may be unable to achieve the scale necessary to match our low costs and prices.

Self-service technology does require a moderate change in behavior as consumers must learn to use equipment. However, self-service technology is designed to be intuitive, so the adjustment is not major. Thus, self-checkout technology would be best considered as a dynamically continuous

Smart phones are allowing customers to shop with their phones inside stores; credit cards are accepted via phones vs. cash registers. Technology brings online shopping vs. in store shopping. And, advertising is popping up on smart phones as electronic messages as customers shop based on their location. Service is defiantly the key to keep a customer coming into a department store.

With the ever changing domestic and global economy with uncertainty of unrest within certain demographics, Best Western will need to review their market strategy to evolve to the ever changing world. Digital technology within the industry becomes a challenge as technology grows with customers needing to be educated on the different ways of utilizing the technology to enjoy Best Westerns product on